An Open Letter to Jerry Falwell Jr. & Franklin Graham

In the 1980s both of your fathers would have been shocked if someone had told them that in 2017, their sons would be arguing character doesn’t count and ends justify the Trump-Moore-GOP means.

Is decency no longer an issue? It was for your fathers.

When I was in the religious right as a leader in the 1970s and 80s, before I fled the movement, I worked with your dads.

I first met you Jerry, when I preached from your dad’s pulpit twice and twice to your entire student body at Liberty U.

Franklin, of course I first met you when we were both nine and your whole family came to my parents’ ministry of L’Abri. In fact I just had a nice breakfast with your sister Gigi, this last July. As you know my mother Edith was best friends with your wonderful mother Ruth.

Graham refused to join the anti-abortion movement, as I well know: Dad and I tried repeatedly to personally talk him into joining our cause in the late 1970s, to no avail. Many evangelicals besides Graham had been pro-choice, including the famous two-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. W. A. Criswell (1909–2002). He was a pastor, author, and patriarch of the “Conservative Resurgence” within the SBC and a friend of my father’s. Questioned in 1973 about the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, Criswell replied the same way he did to Dad and me in person, “I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person, and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed” (“How the Evangelical Church Awoke to the Abortion Issue: The Convergent Labors of Harold O. J. Brown, Francis Schaeffer, and C. Everett Koop” by Matthew Miller, Reformation 21, March 2013).

This was a common attitude among evangelicals until the late 1970s, when the public debate on abortion made it a highly charged political issue. It was my father who talked Criswell into changing his mind. In fact, Dad twisted his arm. Criswell faced so much pressure from Dad and me and those we stirred up to hound him that he eventually came out as anti-abortion.

When it comes to racism I write:

In 1952 the Reverend Billy Graham decided to stop holding segregated crusades. He faced shrill criticism for this decision, but with the guidance of King and other leaders such as Reverend Howard Jones, Graham changed the face of religion in America as we know it. Are we going to let Trump undo Dr. Graham’s Christlike life’s work?”

Franklin today we need evangelical leaders like your father (as I fondly remember him) who exemplify arguments that elevate principle above expediency, institutions that shape character, confront corruption, take the side of the exploited. Many Republicans used to believe in this too. And your dad was not an exception. Even you once aspired to helping the poor.

The evangelical Roy Moore-supporters/GOP argument that ethics must be ignored in the process of doing “great work” in the world is what brings institutions into disrepute. The Catholic Church covered up sexual depredation on that justification. And you Jerry Jr., and Franklin, are presiding over the destruction of Christ’s witness on earth using that justification to your followers.

Those GOP/Trumped leaders like you who say “Let the voters of Alabama decide” or “Trump is a slime but he’s appointing great judges” are applying popular sovereignty to a matter of basic Christian morality. In fact you both have denied the very platform Moore pretends to run on: the preeminence of the Bible and biblical morality as the base of true American law.
Trump’s endorsement of Moore was predictable given Trump’s stake in discrediting the credible accusations of powerless assaulted women. The support of the GOP National Committee, not to mention you two, reveals a political party and evangelical movement with no moral standards.
Mark the date gentlemen: December 2017, the GOP slit its wrists and took you and the cause of Christ with them.

Those like you two still willing to swallow all this — the Trump ignorance, cruelty, lies, the Roy Moore creepiness and tax cuts for the rich and anti-poor malice — have truly shown the strength of your partisan commitment: a “purity” indistinguishable from deranged cultist fascist- mania.

Simply put: You and the Republicans now value tax cuts for the rich and so-called conservatives in the judiciary more than the moral and ethical bedrock upon which all law and politics is based in any democracy. All that’s left to you Franklin and Jerry is worship of power.

Trump has dragged America’s values and reputation to the lowest point- ever. If you and the white evangelicals like you, not to mention the Republicans, don’t find your moral and patriotic bearings very soon- it will be America’s actual safety and security that are next to go. You have empowered an unstable delusional madman. This is the most serious crisis modern America has ever faced. You two will have blood on your hands.

You don’t help your cause by wrapping your arms around two sexual predator – Moore/Trump – bigots. The Trumped/GOP/white evangelicals have forever associated the “pro-life” cause with epic moral hypocrisy. The word “evangelical” is discredited for an entire generation. People of color look at the Trump-Moore-GOP-white evangelicals like you both and they’re repulsed.
Franklin: your father’s life’s work has been undone by you. Jerry, your father at his worst (I have some stories to tell!) never imagined that the word “moral” as in “Moral Majority” would be turned into a sordid national joke by his son.

Trump is defined by shamelessness, and so there’s no bottom to reach for those who like you both are falling with him. His only “limit” are the hours of the day he needs to indulge his reckless depravity.

First Trump asked you both to swallow a narcissistic sexual harasser-liar as your new messiah. Then he asked you and the GOP to accept his comprehensive ignorance of politics and his use of the very racial divisions Billy, your dad Franklin, stood against so bravely. Now he asks you and the GOP to become the party of Roy Moore bigotry and child assault. When you were kids is this who you wanted to grow up to be: enablers of evil?

Republicans and their evangelical supporters like you think you are only giving Trump a little piece of yourselves for a “greater good.” But he keeps asking and asking and asking for more. Before long you both will discover too late that Trump now owns your souls.

My daddy made me memorize this verse from the gospel of Mark. I’ll bet yours did too Franklin and Jerry. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

The alternative to Trump was Hellary. Hardly someone who is an icon of virtue. In fact, it could well be argued that she was more immoral than Trump.

The alternative to Roy Moore is Doug Jones. A liberal who supports abortion, homosexuality and open borders. Not a good alternative. Besides that, Moore has not been proven guilty of any wrong doing. Only accused.

So .. much like Sarah Huckabee Sanders you are wiling to throw all semblances of morality .. ethics .. and integrity aside .. not to mention every last word found in Scriptures .. in order to further what you revive to be tour deluded agenda .. rather than pursuing the Truth e.g.

Martin, I know you would love it if I voted for the liberal candidates you favor. But God wouldn’t like for me to do that, and I wouldn’t like it either. Its people like you, and the politicians you support who have made America the mess that it is.

You proven your Christianity by your condemnation! Jesus would never do that! Plain and God put Trump in office. God used a seemingly ungodly man in Cyrus to get what he wanted done! Trump has professed to a Faith based group of men and women that he has made himself accountable too! That he visits regularly! I know there is a bible study in the WH weekly! Trump is a baby christian! So just like Jesus cut him some slack! He knows who got him elected and he is loyal to that agenda! Christians! He’s says God a lot! First step! He has professed to that group he wants to be the most most praying President ever!

” Can you prove that the God of the Bible endorses homosexuality? If you can’t then why do you support it? ”

Oh you little dumb*ss . I’ve been playing you around the table like a cheap violin to get you to this point .

SURPRISE ! I don’t support gay marriage . Nor do I condone it . But I do as the Christ of the Bible command us .. tolerate it ( Matt 23;13-30 ) .. accepting gays as people and God’s creation first and foremost .. leaving their final judgment in the hands of God and Christ where it belongs .. not in ours

Martin, You support politicians that support “gay marriage”. If you didn’t support “gay marriage” then you would not support politicians who do. So, you are a hypocrite about that.

No where in the New Testament are we instructed to tolerate evil. At the very least, we are told to have no association with it, and we are also instructed to reprove it. See Ephesians 5:11. By voting for politicians who support abortion and homosexuality, you are promoting those evil things.

And I know what you mean by accepting homosexuals and abortionists “as people”. You mean you will accept their evil deeds and never have a word of reproof for them.

” Murderers and thieves don’t like it when we impose our morals on them either ”

Like 99% of your comments and in fact your entire life .. totally and completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand

” Its people like you, and the politicians you support who have made America the mess that it is ”

Its .. Gary Bryon’s … (ASS)UMPTION Time !

1) You don’t have a clue who I do or do not support … and

2) In light of your kind selling morality ethics , decency , intelligence … and the Bible down the tubes wholesale for a mere thirty pieces of silver and a bowl of stew ..now worshiping upon the alter of prejudice hatred racism and bigotry .. not to mention the Collective Stupidity of America ..

Seems to me you’re kind is the problem .. not anyone else .

But hey … y’all in the desperate attempts to justify your own sins and laziness keep looking for that scape goat to blame all the problems of your own creation on … let me know how that works out for ya ..

” Martin, You support politicians that support “gay marriage”. If you didn’t support “gay marriage” then you would not support politicians who do. So, you are a hypocrite about that ”

No … you’re a brain dead idiotic little child making very false (ass)umptions regardless of the facts .

Fact .. s**t for brains .. I support politicians based on him/her being best suited for the job.. not what their religious and/or moral convictions may or may not be when it comes to personal sin between two consenting adults may be

But wait .. did you not support Trump ? The candidate with absolutely zero religion … Trump being his own god .. not to mention zero morals and ethics as proven by his extensive and detailed public record ?

You say you don’t base your support for a politician on what his religious and moral convictions may or may not be, and then you accuse me of not caring what Trump’s religious and moral convictions are! Furthermore, you have constantly insult me for NOT caring about Trump’s religious and moral convictions!!!! Now aren’t you the mother and father of all hypocrites!!!!!

Bulls**t ! No one supports ‘ Open Borders ‘ that is pure unadulterated alt right propaganda . In as far as gay marriage .. sorry s**t for brains but your precious Justice Scalia recanted on his position on the legality and rights of gay marriage as well as abortion .. not once .. not even five times … but over ten .. on each and every occasion refusing to allow the appeals to appear before the Supreme Court

” Liberals like immigration. The more the better. Many of them oppose the idea that nations should have borders ”

Buls**t !

Proving once again you know absolutely nothing … about anything

Like to take a wild guess which side historically increases the immigration quotas ? The Republicans . Like to hazard a guess after the DNC had decreased quotas . with all the expected consequences then ensuing who then increased the numbers exponentially ? the GOP ( USCIS history )

And guess what child … you’re a product of immigration . With a name like Bryson post 1800’s immigration . And your being either Scot or Irish … there’s a 60-80% chance your family immigrated to the US illegally ( USCIS history )

In as far as gay marriage and abortion … where do you get off imposing your religious morals ( which in your case is an oxymoron in light of the fact that you have none ) on those around you .. especially when the US Constitution strictly forbids you from doing so ?

Says Gory, who on Frank’s thread” THIS CHRISTMAS DO NOT WATCH “IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE!” THERE’S WAY TOO MUCH JESUS IN IT! IN TRUMPED TAX-CUT-FOR-THE-RICH-AMERICA WE MUST BOW DOWN TO GREED NOT CELEBRATE CHRIST’S LOVE! … wrote the following:

“Margarite, if your black boyfriend ever knocks you up, or someone else does, I would strongly recommend you abort the child asap. Your reproduction would be a great disservice to the world.”

Seems to me that Gory has blatantly contradicted himself on his so-called “moral” stand on abortion. Talk about him being the epitome of a hypocrite!!!

Margarita, Abortion is immoral. But so are you. Given your beliefs, it would be bad for you to reproduce. You would teach your child the same rotten, damning beliefs that you have, and they could turn out to be even more wicked than you are, which not only would be bad for them, but for everyone else too.

Margarita, I am so sorry for what Gary said to you. That is appaling. You are a child of God, made in His image. If you do become a mother, if your boyfriend ever becomes a father, any children you or he or you and he have will be blessings of God to this world, even as you yourself are and your boyfriend is. Praise God for giving the world both you and your boyfriend! You are not immoral. I declare over you the words of God when He created people. “Very good!” That is who you are. One day, as I was praying, I was thinking about a verse I had memorized as a child, “There is none good, no not one.” At that point, I felt strongly that I should look ot up and read it again. I had memorized it incorrectly. It actually says, “There is none who does good, no not one.” I realized that it is important to separate what we do from who we are. We are good because we are created in His image. We all do bad things, but that is not who we are. You are very good.

Once again proving the fact that your reading and comprehension skills ( both Biblical and here ) are barely at the level of a ten year old ;

As a reminder .. Matt 23 :13-30 .. to put it in a language you might actually be capable of understanding Brys**t ;

Don’t go pulling the weeds up you little dumba** because if you do you’ll pull the damn wheat up as well … and then you’ll suffer and starve !

As for Eph. 5:11 .. now hows ya gonna reconcile that little dilemma in light of the apparent direct contrast and total contradiction to Christs very own Words … ehhh ?

Ahhh … this is how .. who is Paul talking to and about in Eph 5 ? Unbelievers ? Why No ! Fact is the entire context of Ephesians is to give advice as well as recommendation and condemnation to Believers warring them about their behavior and to not adapt the ways of the world (John 12;15-17 ) .

Oh …and when there is any doubt due to bad translations etc … always go with Christs Words

Context .. in both life and the Word .. it is … everything ! * Cause without it … y’all winds up in a cult .. just like the one of your own making you’re in now .

* Hermeneutics 101 … a little something any real Biblical pastor … invests hours into . but then again .. what would you know about real Biblical pastors . 😎

So you are saying these girls who were 14-17 years of age who dont know each other all conspired with each other to lie about Roy Moore. Do you understand that how hard it was for these young girls to speak up against a person of power and position at the time? Roy Moore was the town District Attorney. Do you research? Do you know the mall officials in his town have said Moore was banned from the mall for harassing a teen girl? Do you know not only the family of these young girls knew what Moore did but their friends where aware. And if you are going to spout about Hillary post actual facts. No that is a lie dhe and Democrats are not for open borders. No one gets to choose their sexuality. If you think that is true please tell us when you chose to be a heterosexual. Abortion. You are a man. You are not qualified to make any choices over a woman’s uterus. It’s just like your guns. You want all guns anywhere everywhere but no reasonable guidelines. We do not want abortions everywhere anytime. A mother’s health, stillborn fetus, severe deformations, incest and rape is the choice of the woman. Not you or any other male.

There is only one word to describe someone who uses this argument: brainwashed. Hillary was far from perfect but all the candidates combined on both sides didn’t equal the moral bankruptcy of tRump. As for Jones v Moore…if you only want the votes for your pet causes and are willing to overlook witnesses/victims (martyrs really) whom even Mitch McConnell believes and embrace a pedophile then you too have sold out to Satan. I pity and will pray for you.

Amen Frank ! Two … in one week … knocking both right outta the ballpark all the way to the next county !

Once again Frank … this is you .. at your absolute very best !

My question is .. are you just posting this here .. or have you sent copies to both Franklin and Jerry Jr as well ? Not that I believe for a moment either would read it what with them both having become inebriated with power and addled by the almighty dollar to the exclusion of the Truth .. but .. one must fulfill one’s moral ( and Biblical in my case ) obligations to warn others away from sin . What they do with the warnings afterwards is their problem * … but I do believe you should do the right thing … and send it .

* One of the most frequent pieces of advice I give is ;

First and foremost one must do the right thing . But ! Just because you do the right thing does not mean the recipient will respond in kind . In fact more often than not just the opposite is true

Franklin Graham is twice the man his father ever was. He has much better morals than Billy. I don’t know that much about Jerry Falwell, Jr. But Franklin and Jerry are far superior men than Frank Schaeffer is.

Having known both firsthand I can state unequivocally that Franklin Graham is a pathetic little mindless sycophant deluded by power completely devoid of his fathers theological knowledge as well as morals and ethics .

Fact is .. Franklin Graham is a Graham by accident of birth .. not because of who and what he has become .

If you knew anything at all about the actions and beliefs of Franklin and Jerry Jr you’d know they are both steeped within the Gospel of Ayn Rand having accepted whole heartedly her precepts and concepts which by all Biblical standards are the very essence of evil while sacrificing any and all of the Truths of the Bible .

Cause little one .. Bible 101 time … which sin/evil is most mentioned and condemned in and thru out both the OT and the NT ?

Is it .. homosexuality ? No….. fact is it is mentioned less than ten times between both

Is it … abortion ? No…. fact is it is never mention … or implied

Is it .. murder perhaps ? No ……

Maybe its one of the Ten Commandments ? No ……

Could it possibly be … Selfishness , Greed and the Accumulation of Wealth ? ( the essence of the Gospel of Ayn Rand ) BINGO ! …and the winner by a long shot … mentioned and severely condemned thru out the entire Bible hundreds of times from Genesis to Revelations

You can catalogue texts such as Eccl 5:13, Jam 5:1, etc. But I think you’d do better to reference the Sabbath and Jubilee. That said, I’d still consider critiquing economic systems of political economy from the perspective of John in Re 18.

gdd, Having material possessions is not the problem. It is the harmful attitudes that often accompany having material wealth that is always the problem in the Bible. Abraham was a rich man in his day, but he had a perspective that God was pleased with. There is nothing inherently evil about profit.

That answer is often given glibly by those who too long assume its efficacy when renewed study might serve them better. That’s why I noted that while texts can be found which cast the hoarding of wealth in a negative light, you do better to look at the institutions of the Sabbath and Jubilee.

That families couldn’t be disinherited of land/property permanently with other requirements had the effect of moderating extremes of wealth and poverty. Without calling for the civil institution of such measures, it might do us good to contemplate what these things [plus the tithe, prohibition of usury, etc.] intend to teach God’s people today.

Lastly, ‘profit’ under the capitalist mode of production doesn’t get a free pass. It is not a value free concept but results from the forced extraction of surplus value from working people. Marx’ term for ‘profit’ was ‘worker blood.’

… also just for the record .. by the time the 80’s had rolled around and I was running in those circles Franklin had become an arrogant little egomaniacal prig* and Jerry Jr was already well on his way to becoming the self righteous hypocritical *ss that his father was

* prig – a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others.

The young man that wrote this article had a job writing fake reviews on Trip Advisor hired by local resturant owners mind…resturants he never ate at…and made flowery reviews that did boost sales for said owners.

I believe our news media is that way as its driven by profits alone and not truth as truth goes to the highest bidder many times.

In the 1980’s I walked away from evangelicalism largely due to the fact that I found myself becoming exceptionally callus to compassion and goodwill. I was a deacon in a PCA church immersed in the anti (fill in the blank) movement and feeling intellectually dead. It was your book “A Time for Anger” that finally awakened me to the perils of unexamined orthodoxy. I thank you for the nudge, even though it was not your intent. I confess that I was quite amazed when I discovered (about a year ago) that we were/are now walking the same direction. I wish you peace, happiness and strength.

You are absolutely right, Frankie. Jerry Jr and Franklin have both participated in the name of Jesus being associated with gross immorality, contempt for the poor, and racism. The damage these two have done to evangelicalism is breathtaking. Our children are leaving the faith because of the blatant hiphopcrisy of our Christian leaders. Meanwhile, Jerry Jr and Franklin go a whoring down to Egypt.

What a hateful and ignorant thing to say! Are you even a professed Christian? You certainly aren’t following Christ. As for your earlier argument about wealth and Abraham…to ustify the accumulation of possessions by ones attitude is a slippery slope. When all Job had was gone he proclaimed ” the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away…blessed be the name of the Lord.” he did not go out and vote in a pack of wolves then try to convince the sheep that they were shepherds. The Good Shepherd had something to say about that and he was not a wealthy man. “The Sin of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” if attitude toward wealth is your criterion then this should be your measure…not a millionaire televangelist.

Sarah… Thanks for posting the truth. As for sleazeball Gory, don’t pay him any heed. He is a self-confessed racist and homophobic who twists his interpretation of the bible to suit his “Make America White Again” agenda. Who, in spite of his relentless posts about the evils of abortion, posted the following to me on Frank’s thread” THIS CHRISTMAS DO NOT WATCH “IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE!” THERE’S WAY TOO MUCH JESUS IN IT! IN TRUMPED TAX-CUT-FOR-THE-RICH-AMERICA WE MUST BOW DOWN TO GREED NOT CELEBRATE CHRIST’S LOVE!” on December 6th, 2017

“Margarite, if your black boyfriend ever knocks you up, or someone else does, I would strongly recommend you abort the child asap. Your reproduction would be a great disservice to the world.”

Sarah … just to confirm Ms Abadie’s comment .. Brys**t is a child troll pretending to be an adult blathering a lot of garbage it/they find on social media none of which do it/ they comprehend all with the sole purpose of getting a rise out of people in its/their desperate attempt to give meaning to their meaningless and vapid little child lives

Ah Yes! Gary Bryson just posted today December 9, 2017 at 3:09 pm the following:
“Margarita, Abortion is immoral. But so are you. Given your beliefs, it would be bad for you to reproduce. You would teach your child the same rotten, damning beliefs that you have, and they could turn out to be even more wicked than you are, which not only would be bad for them, but for everyone else too.”

In reply to my calling him out on his hypocrisy as expressed in this prior post of his to me:
“Margarite, if your black boyfriend ever knocks you up, or someone else does, I would strongly recommend you abort the child asap. Your reproduction would be a great disservice to the world.”

Poor old Gory is simply horrified by the concept of a white woman having sex with a black man! Which in his mind, not only would that constitute a betrayal on my part of the white race, but also a betrayal of his White God and White Jesus!!!

Given Mr. Bryson’s comments, it’s rather clear the man/child suffers from some sort of brain illness and is in desperate need of the proper medication. I skip his comments. This person is troubled, to say the least. I don’t respond to his need to troll this blog.

I hear you joelyn and were it not that I feel it is important for others to see how deep racism, homophobia, Islamophia, misogynism, xenophobia, sexism, HYPOCRISY, and HATRED towards all others who aren’t like them runs in the fetid souls of these so-called “good Christian-Alt-Right-White-Gun_Worshipping-Evangelical-Drumph supporters” who are the epitome of the scum of the earth, and calling for a civil war … I wouldn’t bother with him either.

Mainly because I am pro-life, I voted straight Republican except for Trump, hoping they would stand up to him and do the right thing. Unless something drastically changes, none of them will have my vote again.

I watched Frank on the AM Joy this morning, and he totally nailed it when he described these Evangelicals as: “This is as if the Twilight Zone had been taken as gospel by some religious group and they were going back through old episodes and basing an entire cultic kind of religion on it.” Which, after reading self-professed homophobic and racist Gory’s relentless posts on punishment, hell, hatred, and wild accusations that I am wicked and should have an abortion … I’d say that these White Evangelicals are a cultic kind of satanic religion.

Well… Thanks again Gory for proving what I’ve always known about you White Evangelicals. That being that this whole “abortion/SSM” issue has nothing to do with Jesus nor the bible, and everything to do with Make America White Again. Clearly, you folks don’t care that a Black child gets aborted, quite the contrary! What you don’t want is for White women to get abortions, much in the same way that you don’t want White Same-Sex Marriages (which for the most part remain childless), being that if you don’t get White women producing White babies, this country will effectively be of a mixed race within less than 50 years…

‘Trump has dragged America’s values and reputation to the lowest point- ever.’

I would rephrase this to say that Trump has stripped off the mask to reveal the American bourgeoisie for what has been all along. Likewise, unconditional identification with Trump strips off the mast to reveal the evangelical community for what it has long been.

Margaret- I do wonder if that loner slime bag Bryson would ever dare spew his filth in an open public forum ? I am guessing he’s just a sick individual using his version of ‘religion’ to convince himself that he’s really a ‘moral ‘force to be reckoned with- but instead revealing himself to be a stinking bag of hot air..

I see this letter as an impassioned plea to two old friends (perhaps) to stop and think before diving over the cliff. I agree with Frank. This type of Christian has sold his soul for power, and has destroyed the credibility of the evangelical church sect. I’m saddened for them, and for the American “church”.

Abortion is not murder. If you go to YouTube, look up my name and the words ‘Prolife Blasphemy’: you’ll see my videos showing Bible says no life in the womb, straight from its Hebrew and Greek. Genesis 2:7 itself says you’re not human until born.

I really appreciate your making this blog. Your role in the PBS series ‘God in America’ was invaluable to me.